Not-So-Secret Facebook Hacks

Facebook has become the world’s largest social media network with nearly one and a half billion users around the world. Just because Facebook is popular, dos not mean that everybody agrees with or enjoys every feature. The Nerds on Call are here to to share some Facebook hacks to get your news feed under control. Many of these hacks are simple but only a few people take advantage of them; since social media has become cluttered with ads and opinions,these simple Facebook hacks can make a big difference and allow you to enjoy your friends more.

The biggest complaint that Facebook users have is those annoying game notifications that never go away, and just continue to pile up due to invites from aunts, grandpas, and random old friends. If you go to your settings, there is an option to disable game/app notifications. Selecting this option will purge your feed of of annoying game invites, and is a Facebook hack that is not taken advantage off often enough. On your mobile device, you can set your “Notifications from Apps” to off, and your mobile device will no longer alert you when somebody has asked for a life on Candy Crush. Perhaps you only have a handful of friends that send these annoying invites. If that is the case, you can go to your settings and find the “blocking” selection, and add their names to the “block invites from” in the “block app invites” section. This way you can still be friends with the people who play Candy Crush and other games, but you do not have to worry about getting notified when they want you to play with them.

That small arrow in the upper right hand corner of posts can be used for a few different things. The Next Facebook hack includes using that drop down menu to hide ads from websites that you find inappropriate, or ads that you just do not enjoy seeing in your news feed. In this drop down menu, there are also options to save links or photos to read or watch later. This Facebook hack is perfect for if you want to read an article but do not have time at the moment you see it, or if you want to be ale to quickly access those new photos of your niece and nephew in their Halloween costumes.

Another useful Facebook hack that allows you to customize your news fee is a feature that lets you make your close friends appear at the top of your timeline. You can go to the Settings/Preferences menu using the drop down arrow in the top right corner of your window. Choose “Newsfeed Preferences” then click “Prioritize Who to See First” after that you simply tag which friends you wish to appear on the top of your news feed. This Facebook hack allows you to cut through the clutter of the random friends you have added over the years and see posts that you actually care about.

There have been many complaints about the need to install an additional app just to be able to send private messages. Next on our list of Facebook hacks are ways to get your messages without having to install two apps. Popsugar has put together advice on how to send messages without the messenger app as well. Our favorite way to get our messages along with our news feed is to use Facebook’s Paper app instead. This is for iPhones only at this time, but it is a refreshing way to see your Facebook feed, and it includes messaging functions as well. If you do not want to move off of the Facebook app, try using your mobile browser to get the messages. Other advantages of using your mobile browser include: being able to set a shortcut onto your devices home screen just like the app, using less battery life, and the choice to enable private browsing which will reduce the number of ads that you see. These Facebook hacks are all about improving user experience and making your news feed easier to manage and enjoy.

The last few of our Facebook hacks are very simple. On your mobile device, the Facebook app caches pictures and webpage data so that it is able to load quicker. To get rid of this extra data on your phones memory go into your app settings and clear the cache. The search function on Facebook is often underutilized. You can not only look up friends, pages, and events, but you can search for posts that you remember vaguely using keywords. You can also use the activity log to see your older posts, or search ultra specific terms like “books read by CEO’s” or “make your own candy bars” to see any public posts or related posts that your friends have made. Overall all of these Facebook hacks are easy to do, and can improve your Facebook experience. By eliminating the clutter and getting rid of ads that bother you, you can see what matters on your news feed, and keep the annoyances of Facebook at bay.

About The Author:
Andrea Eldridge is CEO and co-founder of Nerds On Call, a computer repair company that specializes in on-site and online service for homes and businesses. Andrea is the writer of a weekly column, Nerd Chick Adventures in The Record Searchlight. She prepares TV segments for and appears regularly on CBS, CW and FOX on shows such as Good Day Sacramento, More Good Day Portland, and CBS 13 News, offering viewers technology and lifestyle tips. See Andrea in action at callnerds.com/andrea/.